1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to blind rivet installation equipment.
2. Prior Art
Blind rivets are well known in the prior art, being settable from one side of the work pieces to be joined by the rivet without requiring bucking or other access to the opposite side of the work pieces. Blind rivets are characterized by a hollow-headed shank with a stem extending therethrough, the stem having some provision for expanding the shank as the stem is pulled from the head-end of the rivet. In some types of rivets, the stems are pulled all the way through the rivet, leaving a hollow installed rivet. In other cases, the stem will first form an expanded tail on the shank as if it had been bucked, then intentionally break, usually with some form of locking provision so that the portion of the stem remaining in the installed rivet becomes a permanent and secure part of the installed rivet.
Installation tools for blind rivets of various types are also well known. Such tools include hand powered devices, compressed air powered devices and electrically powered devices, including devices powered by rechargeable batteries. In the prior art, these devices are single shot devices, requiring the manual loading of each rivet prior to the installation of the rivet. While an experienced riveter can fairly quickly load each rivet into the gun, the manual loading requirement still reduces the rate at which the blind rivets may be installed.
Finally, installation systems are known which automatically feed the rivets to the gun for higher speed installation. Such a system used for a proprietary tacking rivet manufactured by Allfast Fastening Systems, Inc., the assignee of the present invention, is the Allfast TackMatic(trademark), sold by the assignee of the present invention. That system utilizes a console unit that automatically feeds the rivets to a handgun, sets the rivets, and then collects the spent stems. The handgun is tethered to the console unit by a line through which the rivets are fed and by a high pressure air hose for powering the handgun. The console unit may be made relatively mobile by placement on a wheeled cart, though limitations on the length of the flexible rivet feeding tube, etc. limit the range of motion of the installation gun. Consequently, while such systems work well on assembly lines for individual assembly of products that are not particularly large, they are generally not used in aircraft manufacture because of the mobility required because of the size of the assembly on which the rivet installation system would have to be used.
Automatic feeding blind rivet guns and method facilitating rapid installation of blind rivets with good freedom of movement of the operator. The blind rivet guns receive a carrier holding a substantial plurality of blind rivets in close side by side proximity and automatically sequentially loads and sets the blind rivets in response to operator control. The blind rivets are preferably supplied on an inexpensive disposable plastic carrier ready for use with the rivet installation gun. The installation gun itself is pneumatically powered, though other sources of power, such as electrical power, could be used.